Realism In Norman Rockwell's 'Negro In The Suburbs'

Norman Rockwell a well-known American realist painter, in his painting “Negro in the Suburbs” illustrates the racial issue that is so intertwined with the 1960’s era. His painting criticizes the ongoing problem of segregation but while also giving it a viable solution. His work is intended to target white American citizens and the society of 1960’s era a whole to change their mentality and be more accepting of those who are different.
The painting depicts five characters: two African-American children and three white children looking at each other what it seems to be the first time . One African American boy is in a white long sleeve shirt and plaid shorts holds a baseball glove and a smaller African American girl stands right next to him. She looks kind of intimidated and worried as she holds onto a white cat. She wears a pink dress and a matching hair tie and socks. On the other side of the canvas, one white boy, as tall as the African-American boy, is in a yellow long sleeve shirt and jeans, and also is holding a baseball glove; there is a shorter white boy next to him, who is in a baseball uniform leaning towards to take a closer look at the African American children; and …show more content…
His purpose is to show that there is no nothing wrong with someone of a difference race but they are just as everyone else and it is possible to coexist. He does this through the symbolism of the pets, the black children have a white cat while the white children have a black dog. The significant of the pets is show that the color of each animal does not matter because the children still love them even if they are of a different color. The pets are a clear representation of people, showing that there are some differences such as cats and dogs but at the end of the day they are not distinguished by their